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In 1951—four years before the grand opening of Disneyland—a man named Harper Goff browsed the shelves of Bassett-Lowke, a miniature train store in central London. When a particular antique train took Goff’s eye, he was told that it had been promised to someone else. “I found one,” Goff later remembered, “and the man said ‘There’s a gentleman coming in this evening who’s shown some interest in that…’”

The gentleman in question was Walt Disney. When Walt returned to the store later that day to

In Walt’s mind, this “boat ride” would be the perfect way to showcase the different cultures of children around the world – a clear nod to the work of UNICEF and the 1964/65  Fair’s theme of ‘peace through understanding’.

During Open Studio this month, we created a collective storyboard outlining some of the key plot moments from the story Peter Pan. A storyboard can be made fairly simply at home using easy-to-find materials. In addition to helping outline a story, storyboards can be used to organize ideas for an essay, a website, a theme park attraction, or a video game. Click through for instructions on how to create your very own original storyboard.

Walt made thirteen nature films in the 1950s known as the True-Life Adventures series. Eight of them won Academy Awards®. They were shown in public schools for decades and—judging by correspondence that is in the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank—many young people went into the forestry service and related fields due to the influence of these films...

The Walt Disney Family Museum celebrates the 2013 Academy Awards season with recently compiled fun facts about the legendary Oscars® and Walt Disney. Twenty-six of these famed Awards are on view at the Museum including the celebrated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Oscar which is on exhibit through April 14, 2013 in the special exhibition, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic.

Once a story man, always a story man.

The Sherman brothers (or “the boys” as Walt Disney called them) were staff writers for The Walt Disney Studio, and are responsible for some of the best-loved songs in entertainment history. In an early meeting with Walt, the Sherman brothers explained their reasoning behind the song “For Now, For Always” from the 1961 film,The Parent Trap...

Though the museum has welcomed visitors since October 1, 2009, one of the questions we’re asked most frequently by guests remains: “Why is the museum here?” Well, for over a decade, Diane Disney Miller, Walt's daughter, considered how best to memorialize her father’s life story, and landed on what we now know as The Walt Disney Family Museum.

Join museum volunteer & guest blogger Lucas O. Seastrom as he gives you an in-depth look at the incredible impact that artist Eyvind Earle made on the animated classic, Sleeping Beauty.

In light of the recent rumors that have been spreading about Walt Disney, The Walt Disney Family Museum would be more than happy to address misconceptions that have been told as bold, un-sourced statements and wildly false accusations, as part of our mission to enlighten and educate.

Roy Disney was a financial genius. But he was more than that in the same way that Walt Disney was more than a film producer. Here is a chance to learn more about him through his own words and recollections of his contemporaries. Even a small sample of his correspondence to Walt shows the caliber of person that was Roy Oliver Disney. 

Even decades after his passing, Walt Disney still retains the honor of being the individual with the most Academy Award nominations and the most Oscar wins. While the listing of these awards for animation, live action and more is very impressive, it is fun to take a quick look behind some of the stories of those golden statuettes...

In the fall of 1929, when Walt was in New York City meeting with his then-distributor, Pat Powers, he was repeatedly approached by a man with an unusual request. As Walt told the story, “… a fellow kept hanging around my hotel waving $300 at me and saying that he wanted to put the Mouse on the paper tablets children use in school.